As information devices (entertainment systems) such as entertainment devices that include video game machines, there are those that allow one to play games by manipulating operation devices while causing to be displayed on the screen of a television receiver the content of the game, which is stored on a recording medium such as a CD-ROM.
The entertainment device and operation device in such an entertainment system are usually connected by a serial interface. When a clock (pulse) is sent from the entertainment device, key switch information, etc. that corresponds to operations by the user with respect to said operation device operations is sent to the entertainment device synchronized to the clock (pulse).
Recently, operation devices have been equipped with built-in vibration generation means, i.e. tactile feedback, to provide vibration to the user upon request from outside (for example, from the entertainment device), so as to give the user various types of tactile feedback in response to user operations, for example, during the course of playing a game.
The spread of networks (such as the Internet, for example) has made it simple for users to extract, via their computers, information distributed from a server, and to conveniently send text to recipients using e-mail. Of course, a user can not only receive information but also provide information to a server, for example in the form of submitting an article.
Such widespread use of networks makes it simple and speedy to obtain information, allowing users to obtain, as text data or image data, various information from countries all over the world while remaining at home or at the office.
Obtaining information via a network is done by connecting the user-side computer to the network. If the information is text data only, a short-duration connection suffices, but if the information is image data or audio data, a long-duration connection is necessary in order to take in such information. Because of this, there is the problem that the user is tied down to his computer for a long time, and the communication expenses grow large as well.
Examples have been proposed in which the connection between the user-side computer and the network is made of short duration, and in the short-duration connection information is received from the server and information from the user is transmitted (for example, see unexamined patent H11-46193 [1999] and unexamined patent H9-269923 [1997]).
Also, examples have been proposed in which if information obtained from a server via the network is to be reported to the user, and is conveyed via characters displayed on a monitor (for example, see unexamined patent H11-242546 [1999]).
Heretofore, if the connection with the server was to be reported to the user, all that was done was, for example, to display a message such as “Connected” on the monitor, which is uninteresting.
In addition, information conveyed via cartoon-like characters is exclusively the content of an e-mail transmitted to the user and is not information for the submission of user-contributed articles sent to the server. There is the problem that in order to see this contributed information, it is necessary to continue to maintain the connection to the server, which requires communication expenses as stated above. Moreover, the contributed content is displayed in a state when it has been almost entirely input, which is uninteresting.
In other words, heretofore it has been a concept of transferring to the user side and viewing information from the server in an exchange of information between individuals, such as e-mail, but if one is to see the contributed information of users, one usually has to go to the server to see it.